A Summer Together
by CrazyDuck5280
Summary: Charlie goes to visit Julie while his mom is on a trip. During those 3 weeks together, their friendship will grow stronger and also the feelings of love between them. Sequel to "Friend In Need"
1. Chapter 1 The Visitor

Chapter 01 The Visitor

Chapter 01 The Visitor

Julie Gaffney was watching a movie on TV in the kitchen with her sisters Mary and Katie at near midnight and eating popcorn while they heard the storm outside. It was the second week of the summer and the 3 of them were bored to death.

"It's hard to believe that we have this weather in July." Julie muttered looking out of the kitchen's window when the film stopped and she went to get more popcorn along her sisters.

"Are you waiting someone, Katie?" Mary asked seeing a cab parking outside the door and a kid getting down from it and running to the door and ringing the bell.

"Who is it?" Katie asked while Julie went to wake her parents.

"Is Julie Gaffney at home?" Asked the boy that was outside at the moment that said girl arrived with her parents.

"Charlie?" Julie asked opening the door recognizing her friend's voice and seeing him.

"Hi." The duck's captain said shivering in cold under the rain.

"What are you doing here?" The goalie asked shocked to see him.

"Do you think that I can come in before I answer that? I'm freezing!" The boy asked with a plea.

"Come in!" Julie's mom said inviting him inside.

"Thanks." Charlie said before he added: "I need to get my things from the cab."

"What are you doing here at Maine?" Julie asked while her father and brother took the things from the cab.

"I was supposed to spend 2 weeks at my step-aunt's house while my mom and Scott went on a trip. The problem is that they left and their house is empty. I came to you because I need a place where to sleep tonight and I couldn't find a hotel." He explained going to the fireplace and getting some warm from it.

"Julie, why don't you introduce your friend?" Her father suggested.

"Sorry." She said with a sheepish smile before she added:"Everyone, this is Charlie Conway, the Captain form the ducks. Charlie, they are my family."

""Hold on, you are the Charlie of the Kama Sutra?" Alex asked him.

"Yeah, that would be me. I guess you are Alex." The boy said with a blush at the memory of the prank that he and Julie had played to her family.

"Yeah, that's me." Alex said with a smile before he said to his parents: "Make sure to keep them apart tonight."

"Alex!" Julie shouted to her brother smacking his arm while blushing completely red.

"What? I'm sure that mom and dad don't want you 2 to repeat what you did at the hotel during the games." The man said with a smile to her sister and her friend.

"Don't pay him attention." Julie's mom said to Charlie with a smile before she said: "I'm Andrea, Julie's mom."

"I'm pleased to meet you, Madame." Charlie said with a smile still shivering.

"Julie, take him somewhere to change his clothes before he catches a cold." Her mother instructed and she nodded. Charlie took one of his bags and followed her.

"You, little moron! Why didn't you call me to say you were coming to my state?" Julie asked Charlie smacking his arm before they entered in a room and Charlie started to take off his clothes and dried himself.

"The trip was something out of the blue. I came to stay with Scott's sister for the only reason that no duck would be at Minnesota those 2 weeks. Either they left this week on holydays or returned next week. No one was around for that time." Charlie explained while he started to take some clothes form his bag.

"So what will you do now that she's not here?" The blond girl asked turning around to let him change in privacy.

"I have a few choices where to land and your house is first on the list." Charlie said putting in his t-shirt, before he continued:

"I was going to see you. I mean, being at the same state would be something stupid to not do it. In case of problems at her house, I'd ask you help. In case I couldn't stay here for any reason, let's say I would start a marathon."

"What do you mean?" Julie's mom asked brining him something hot to drink.

"From here, I would try Chicago." Charlie said before he added: "Fulton's there with Portman and told me that if there were problems I could land there.

"If that doesn't work, my next destination would be Texas."

"I don't see you in a ranch, Charlie!" Julie laughed before she explained to her Mom: "Dwayne lives there."

"And if that didn't work either, I would return home and would move around till Coach Bombay returns next Wednesday and I would stay with him till mom's return." Charlie finished his tale and his coffee and returned the cup to Andrea with a smile.

"And why not Russ, Ken or Luis?" Julie asked confused.

"Ken returned to skating and is in tournaments. Russ' mom is still sick. And Luis is in the other side of the country." The captain explained.

"I heard about Ken. We talked last week and told me he would be at Maine in a few days in a tournament." Julie said with a nod.

"And he won't be the only duck on it. Tammy Duncan will be there too." Charlie informed her friend.

"Hold on! You know Tammy Duncan?" Mary asked entering at that moment and introducing herself: "I'm Mary, nice to meet you."

"Likewise. Your sister talked a lot about you." Charlie smile to her before he added: "Tammy and her brother Tommy played with us on the pee wee league."

"Now I know why that name sounded familiar!" Julie exclaimed before she added: "She was interviewed today at the newspaper."

"I'm not the one who keeps her tracks, that one is Connie. She has every news article about her. Remind me to keep it for her." Charlie asked his friend who nodded.

"I have a question: shouldn't you call your parents to tell them you are here?" Mary asked him seriously.

"They must be still on flight to New York. They were flying tonight." The boy explained before he said: "And she's very well aware of the marathon. She told me to inform her about where I landed every time I moved of place,"

"So," Katie said entering at that moment along Alex and a little girl, "You are the guy who perverted our little cat."

"Something tells me you'll keep reminding us of that joke." Charlie muttered blushing like Julie.

"We will!" Julie's older siblings chorused with a smirk to them.

"Yeah, let me remind you that your little sister wanted to kill you and cursed your name for 5 days." Charlie told Katie with a smirk too.

"You should have seen what she did at her return then!" Alex laughed at that memory.

"She told me about dying her hair with the rainbow colours." The kid laughed before he asked: "Are you Olivia?"

"Yes, I am." The little girl said with a smile.

"Then I have a gift for you and your sister." Charlie said before he opened of his bags and started to look for something there,

"What did you bring, Charlie?" Julie asked as confused as her family.

"We found a box of these a few days ago and we are sending them to everyone." Charlie said taking from the bag 2 of the original stuffed ducks and handed them to the 2 sisters.

"Oh my god!" Olivia exclaimed taking it and hugging it.

"Thanks!" Julie said hugging him.

"I brought another one for Ken." Charlie said pointing to the last duck he had on the bag.

"Ok, everyone to sleep now! It's almost 2 o'clock and you need some rest. Tomorrow we'll decide what to do. In the meantime you are welcome to stay here." Andrea told Charlie before she left along her children and told Julie: "I want you in your own room in 20 minutes."

"Yes, Mom." She nodded before both ducks were left alone.

"Do they think that we had sex?" Charlie asked Julie worried.

"They took me to the doctor to make sure I'm still virgin, Charlie. Yes, the believed that the joke was true." Julie said with a disgusted look at the memories of the aftermath of that event.

"Sorry for that. I didn't want to create you problem with your family." Charlie said with a sheepish look.

"Hey, I really had fun with it that day. Don't worry. If they mess up with me too much, I have more information about them to use as blackmail." Julie smirked to her friend before they hugged again.

"It's great to have you here. And don't worry about not staying. My parents will let you stay the 2 weeks. But there might be a little situation." The goalie said unsure of her words.

"Katie's wedding? Isn't it in 3 weeks?" Charlie asked remembering what she had said about the wedding.

"Actually it's in 2 weeks and half. If I know my family, you'll be invited what means they'll want you to stay another week." Julie explained.

"Do you want me to stay that week? I have no problem with that. I mean, the school doesn't start for another month and half and the season is over now so we don't have to play." The captain said with a smile.

"What will you mom think? You have to ask her permission, I guess." Julie said before anything else.

"My mom will be delighted that I don't have to run a marathon among states. Besides when shall we have another chance to see each other for so long?" The boy asked with a smile.

"That's settled then. I'll talk to mom tomorrow and you'll call yours." Julie said with a wide smile before she added: "We better go to sleep. If I'm not in my room soon, I'll have to sleep with one of my sisters and they snore too much for my like."

"Goodnights, Jules." Charlie said hugging her before he went to bed and she left for her own room.


	2. Chapter 02 Settling At Maine

Chapter 02 Settling At Maine

Chapter 02 Settling At Maine

The next morning, Julie went to breakfast after checking Charlie who was still sleeping. He woke up when she entered in his room.

"Good morning. How did you sleep?" Julie asked while he got up and started to change his clothes.

"Not as good as at my own bed, but really great." He smiled before both of them went down to breakfast.

At the kitchen, were Mary, Andrea, Olivia and Alex that was ready to go to open the shop. They greeted them as soon as they came and they sat to eat cereals.

"Your friend Ken called a while ago. He said he'd be here in 2 days and left the name of his hotel and his room's number." Mary told Julie giving her a note.

"We'll go to see him before it starts." Charlie suggested to his friend who nodded.

"Your mom called." Andres told Charlie with a serious tone of voice.

"I guess I should call her now." He said before he asked Julie where he could find the phone.

"I talked to her and we arranged that you stay here these 2 weeks. Also, as I'm sure Julie must have told you, Katie's getting married a few days after you are supposed to leave. You are invited to the wedding and to stay here." Andrea told Charlie before she added: "But surely you 2 talked about it last night, right?"

"We did. As long as there is not any problem with that, I would like to stay." The captain answered.

"They changed of hotel. This is their new and their room's number." The woman said handing him a note.

"I'll show you the phone." Julie said guiding her to a room where was the phone and he dialed the number on the note.

"Ritz Hotel." A man's voice answered a few moments later.

"Yes, I would like to talk with room 236, please." Charlie said while they sat at chairs and waited till his mom answered the phone.

"Hello?" Scott's voice answered soon.

"Hi, Scott. It's Charlie"

"Hi, Charlie. Hold on, your mom is in the bathroom." He said before he went to tell his wife.

"Good morning, Honey. How was the trip?" Casey asked a moment later.

"As good as you can expect with a storm, I guess. How was yours?"

"The same." Casey said before she asked: "What happened that you went there?"

"I went to Scott's sister and their house was empty. I tried to find a hotel but I couldn't so I came here. You knew that in case of problems this would be the first place that I'd try." Charlie said worried that his mom would start to complain about his decision.

"Calm down, Charlie." Casey tried to relax her son before she added: "I talked with her mom and she agreed to let you stay there. She also mentioned something about a wedding and that you'd be invited to it and to spend another week in her house."

"She told me at breakfast too." Charlie nodded before he asked: "So, can I stay?"

"I prefer to have you there another week than having you traveling all the time." Casey said before she added: "Remember the rules ok?"

"I have to be careful, don't cause troubles and call you every couple of days." Charlie answered with a sigh and said: "You told me that one million times before I left, mom."

"I don't want to hear any complain about your behavior or sense of humor. Understood, young man?" She asked very seriously.

"I have enough of people reminding me of that joke with her family to also have you, Mom! Give me a break!" Charlie pleaded with a shout. Next to him, Julie was trying to hold her laughter.

"Ok, but be careful." His mom said before she added: "We'll see each other soon so have fun in the meantime."

"Bye mom and enjoy NY." Charlie said before he hung the phone.

"She complained about that joke?" Mary asked entering at that moment along Olivia.

"Yes, she did. And you have no idea about the lecture she gave me when I got home. She told me about the bees and flowers and also about protections." Charlie said before he added pointing to Julie who was laughing now: "And it's all her fault."

"You are the one who suggested the joke, Conway!" Julie shouted angry with the accusation.

"Yes, but I'm not the one who said that she was busy practicing the KS with her captain to my mom thinking it was her family when she called 5 minutes later!" Charlie shot back with a smirk.

"She told your mom?" Mary asked laughing while her sister blushed.

"She thought that it was you and answered saying that she was busy with me with the KS. Then she told me that it was my mom. I thought that I'd die in that moment!" Charlie explained.

"How could I have known that it was your mom?" Julie exclaimed while her sister laughed harder than ever.

"Thankfully she called to give me some news so she didn't ask too much about it." Charlie explained to Mary-

"How's the baby going? When is it supposed to be born? Do you know what will it be?" Julie asked trying to change the subject.

"The baby won't be born. Mom had a miscarriage 2 weeks ago." Charlie told his friend sadly.

"Shit." Mary muttered in a low voice while Julie looked shocked with the news.

"I didn't know it." The blond said still shocked.

"It was something sudden. The pregnancy was fine and then one day, she fainted and was taken to the hospital. The doctors did all they could but she died." Charlie said trying to not to cry before he added: "Not all of the ducks know it. Besides me, only Fulton and Adam know it and it's because they were at my house when she fainted and they came with me to the hospital."

"I'm sorry to hear that." Julie said hugging him.

"Sorry if I didn't tell you but I wanted to keep it quiet for now. Fulton and Adam promised to keep their mouth shut at this. I'll ask you the same." Charlie asked his friend who nodded.

"Gaffney residence." Mary said answering the phone that rang in that moment. After a moment she turned to Julie and said: "It's your friend Fulton."

"Let me answer. I told him that I would call if I had to move there." Charlie said to Julie before he took the phone and said: "Hey, Fulton."

"Charlie! I thought you would be at your step-aunt's house by now." The bash brother said surprised to hear his voice.

"Yeah, well there were some problems there and I had to change of plans and I'll stay here the whole time. Tell Dean that I won't go to his house." Charlie said without adding more information about the problems and he was sure that Fulton wouldn't ask either.

"Ok, Captain." Fulton said with a nod before he added: "Tell Julie I said hi. I called her to tell her about you going there but I guess I was late for the news." He knew Charlie well enough to know when to ask about a matter and when not, and obviously on this one the questions were not necessary or welcome.

"I will." Charlie promised before he asked with a smirk: "Do you want me to deliver any message for certain duck girl who will be on town for certain tournament too?"

"Go to the hell, Spazzway!" Fulton shouted before he hung the phone.

"What did I miss?" Julie asked while Charlie was laughing about Fulton's reaction.

"He had a crush on Tammy when we were at the pee wee." He explained before he asked: "I need some fresh air. Is there any good place to visit?"

"I was going to the mall today to buy a couple of things. Let's go there." Julie suggested before they went to their rooms to get their wallets and a jacket too.

- - - - -

"Have you ever skated in a mall?" Charlie asked Julie while they were looking shops and they bought some things.

"Never tried it. You?" She asked curious about that.

"A couple of times. The first when we Fulton learnt to skate. Coach did it on a mall. Really funny experience, I'll tell you." Charlie laughed remembering what had happened that day. Then he continued: "Every time we need to pick Averman from his job at the cinema we skate around the mall till his shift is over and he can come with us."

"Charlie?" Someone asked from behind them. Both turned around to see a blond girl looking at them.

"Tammy!" The boy said hugging her before he turned to her mom and said: "It's nice to see you again, Mrs. Duncan."

"Charlie." She greeted him with a serious look.

"What are you doing here?" Tammy asked before she saw Julie and said: "Tammy Duncan."

"Julie Gaffney. I heard about you from Connie." Julie smiled shaking her hand.

"You are one of the new ducks! Congratulations! Now, Connie is not the only girl of the team!" Tammy laughed before she repeated her question to her old friend.

"I'll stay at her house for 2 weeks. It's a long story." He said seeing her questioning look. Then he asked: "Ready for the tournament?"

"Nervous as usual but I'm very ready." Tammy said before her mom pointed to her clock and said: "I have to go. Call me to my hotel and we can meet. Tommy will be happy to see you again." Here she took a piece of paper and wrote something on it before she handed it to Charlie.

"You'll be at the same hotel that Ken." Charlie after he read the note.

"Ken? Ken Wu? You know him?" Mrs. Duncan asked shocked when she heard the name.

"He was with us at the good will games. He's one of the newest ducks." Charlie said with a nod.

"Incredible. He left the artistic skating for hockey?" Tammy asked shocked.

"I'm not sure if he left it forever but yes, he did." Julie informed them. Ken had told her that he wasn't sure about what to do: continue with hockey or the skating.

"Wait till Tommy hears this." Tammy whispered to her mom who didn't look very pleased with the idea of that situation.

"Call us and we'll have dinner once the tournament is over." Julie said handing her a paper with her phone number.

"See you!" Tammy said before she and her mom left.

"What's the problem with her brother?" Julie asked curiously to Charlie.

"Well, you'll see. Their mom presses Tammy for skating and decided that her brother had to be her partner. Tommy never liked the idea too much but went along with it till they joined the team." Charlie stared to tell the story before they went to get an ice-cream and he went on:

"Their mom allowed them to do it like a favor to him but told them that at the end of the season, the hockey was over permanently and they would return to skating."

"Let me guess: he didn't like the deal." Julie said.

"You can bet it." Charlie nodded before he continued:

"After the pee wee, their parents decided to move to continue with her career and Tommy didn't want to. He had his friends there and had no wishes to make new ones, especially with the schedule that they had to keep. He wanted to play hockey and not skating.

"As you can imagine, it was the war. Their mom reminded him that the hockey was temporary and now had to continue with the skating and he had to forget it. Then Tommy went to the extreme and told her that if he wouldn't play hockey, then he wouldn't skate with his sister either."

"How was he convinced? I read that he's her partner." Julie said while they sat to eat.

"He's her partner. To convince him, they made a deal. He would go with her for this year and next she would find another one. If she didn't, it wasn't his problem. But this year he would play hockey again. And if his mom didn't let him and he had to skate with her, he would be paid for practices and tournaments." Charlie explained seriously.

"Are you serious?" Julie asked shocked.

"Yes, he is." Someone said from behind them.

"Tommy!" Charlie said turning to see him and hugging him.

"Spazzway!" The boy laughed returning the hug before he introduced himself to Julie: "I'm Tommy."

"Julie. It's Nice to meet you." The goalie said shaking his hand.

"You are one of the new ducks. You are the new Goalie, right?" He asked taking seat with them.

"That's me." Julie nodded with a smile.

"What happened with the deal? From what Connie told me, your sis hasn't found a partner yet." Charlie said with curiosity.

"Mom is trying to make me forget the deal. She doesn't want to pay me for something I should do freely, as she says." Tommy said before he added: "That's why I made the deal a real contract through Coach Bombay. She has no options: either they find Tam a new partner or they start to pay me."

"Gees! That's a good one!" Charlie laughed.

"That's what happens when your dad is a business man: you learn a lot of tricks from there to use in your own benefit." Tom said laughing.

"What does he say about all of this?" Julie asked.

"I've kept myself away from the arguments after he used my tricks against us." A man said going to them.

"Hi, Mr. Duncan. It's nice to see you." Charlie said to Tommy's dad shaking his hand.

"Likewise, Charlie." He nodded before he turned to his son and said: "Time to go. Your mom wants us at the hotel in 15 minutes."

"She should have been at the army. She makes schedules for everything and everyone!" Tommy groaned before he said goodbye to the friends and promised to keep in touch.

"They say that they can't stand each other, but they can't live without the other." Charlie said to Julie before they took their bags and started the trip back to her house.


	3. Chapter 03 Axel

Chapter 03 Axel

Chapter 03 Axel

After seeing the Duncan's brothers and before going back to the house, Julie asked Charlie to follow her.

"My brother has his store in the mall and I want you to see it." Julie explained before she added: "And perhaps we can get a free ride back to home."

"Lead the way." Charlie laughed following her.

The hockey store was in the last floor of the mall and it was rather large. Both of them entered and Julie looked around trying to find her brother but he wasn't there.

"Where's Alex, Mike?" Julie asked to the man who was attending the store.

"He's inside." Mike said before he turned to Charlie and said: "You must be Charlie."

"He's Alex's boyfriend, Mike." Julie introduced the man to Charlie who shook hands with him.

"You are a really cute boy. If you were only a few years older…" Mike said looking Charlie from head to toe.

"Mike! He's my age, by goodness sake!" Julie shouted smacking him in the back of his head while her friend blushed nervously, unsure of how to react to his comments.

"That doesn't stop me from dreaming, little cat." Mike smiled before he said to Charlie: "I'm joking. You are too young and not my type of guy." Then he went to see a client who called him.

"How am I supposed to take that?" Charlie asked his friend.

"Forget it, Charlie. He does it with everyone. You get used after a while." Julie laughed before they started to look around.

"Remind me to take my skates to be sharpened. Hans couldn't do it before he went to Germany with Jan." The boy told his partner who nodded.

"I have to take mine too." She said before she continued showing him the place.

In one of the walls, there were a lot of articles, just like Hans had in his shop. Most of them were about victories of the Bears with Julie in most of the pictures. There were a few of the Good Will Games too.

"He's my biggest fan and places the articles in that wall to show his pride to me." Julie explained with a smile before he showed him a picture where she was with Alex on skates on a rink, both of them with hockey stuff.

In that moment Alex came from inside the storage and saw them. He went to them and kissed his sister and shook hand with Charlie.

"We wanted to see you and show Charlie the store. And also see if we could get a ride back home." Julie said with a sweet smile showing her bags when he asked why they were there.

"I can take you home but you'll have to wait me an hour or two. I can't leave earlier. But you can leave the bags here." The guy said to them.

"Let us help you with the store. Connie told me you worked at Jan's right?" Julie asked Charlie who nodded.

"He had to hire me after I spent there almost all day when my mom and Scott got married." He explained to the siblings.

"Scott is his step-father. His mother remarried." Julie explained to her brother.

"Take your sells to Mike and he'll handle it from there." Alex told them who nodded and started to help the people who entered the shop.

While Charlie was helping a mother to decide what skates she would buy to her 8 years old son who would start hockey soon, 3 guys entered at the shop and he saw that Julie's face changed into one of rage when she saw them. She went to Mike and told him something before she went inside.

"What's wrong?" Charlie asked Mike when he went with the woman to the cashier.

"Get inside and ask no questions." Mike instructed Charlie in a whisper.

Charlie looked confused but did as he was told and found Julie as angry as before. He went to her, but she raised her hand to tell him to not get near.

"Axel?" Alex asked when he saw his sister.

"He's in the shop with King and Kong." She said with anger in her voice. He nodded and went back to the store leaving both of them alone.

"Are you ok?" Charlie asked worried to her after a while of silence.

"The guy who just entered was my boyfriend and ex-best friend. That was until he cheated on me and convinced the team to get kicked me out of it while I was at the Good Will Games." Julie said while she tried to calm herself-

"Sorry to hear that." Charlie said understanding her anger.

"He's an asshole. Unfortunately it took me a lot to realize that." She went on with her rant before Mike entered again.

"He's gone. You can get back there." He said to them before he returned to the shop.

"Come on. Let's go home. I'll ask my brother to take the bags when he goes home. I need some fresh air." The girl said leaving and going to the front of the shop again and telling her brother that they would go back home on their own.

"Are you sure of that?" He asked worriedly.

"Yes. I need some air." Julie said before she motioned Charlie to follow her.

Both kids walked for a while around the mall before they started their way back to her house. When they were about to leave, they were stopped by the 3 guys of the shop.

"Move aside." Julie said in a low and cold tone of voice.

"I want to talk with you." The guy that Charlie presumed to be Axel said while his friends kept a distance from them but watched them carefully.

"We have nothing to talk about. I don't deal with traitors." Julie hissed getting her face very close to his.

"You are wrong, Kitty, Please, give me a chance to talk." Axel asked her grabbing her arm when she turned to leave.

"Let me go." Julie said without facing him.

"Not until you hear what I have to say." Axel answered turning her to face him.

"Are you deaf or just idiot? I told you: we have NOTHING to talk about. For me you are DEAD!" She shouted him on the face.

"You are wrong! We have to talk and we'll do it now!" He shouted angrily.

"Hey, let her go!" Charlie said trying to separate them.

"Stay away!" Axel said punching him on his nose.

Charlie fell to the floor and dried his blood before he got up again and charged against him. Fulton had taught him and some of the other ducks about how to defend themselves from bullies at school.

The other guy didn't see him till it was too late and when he tried to hit him; Charlie pushed him to the floor. Axel turned Charlie so he was above him and hit him on his face before Charlie did the only thing that would get the other guy from that place: he kicked him on his balls with all his strength. As he had expected, his rival screamed in pain and fell from his place catching his genitals.

When Charlie was about to jump over him, someone caught him from behind and someone else punched him on the stomach. Without air due to the punch, Charlie shouted before he recovered quickly and before he was hit again, he stomped his foot on the guy that held him. When the guy released him, he dodged to the left and the punch that was for him, hit the other guy on the face,

In that moment a security guard from the mall went to see what was going on and saw the fight. Axel and his 2 friends decided it was time to leave, but not without telling Charlie:

"We haven't finished!"

"Are you ok?" Julie asked running to Charlie who was bleeding on his nose.

"I'm fine, Julie." He said holding his stomach that hurt due to the punch.

"Let's go to my brother's. He'll take us home." Julie said to her friend who nodded and they started to walk back to the store. The guard followed them for a while till both of them went inside the store and returned to his work.

- - - - -

"What the hell happened?" Mike shouted as soon as they came in and he saw Charlie's blood. The shout made Alex leave the storage and saw them and rushed to his sister and friend.

"Axel happened, Mike. He tried to force me to talk with him and he and Charlie got in a fight." Julie explained to his brother and his boyfriend before she asked Charlie: "Where did you learn to fight like that?"

"In case you forgot, one of my best friends is one of the Bash Brothers, Jules. He taught me and some of the other ducks to fight to defend ourselves. This was the first time I had to use that knowledge." Charlie said while Mike gave him some cotton and he put it on his nose to stop the bleeding.

"I'll take them home, Mike. Take care till I return." Alex informed his boyfriend before he went to look for his car's keys. Mike nodded and the 3 of them went to the parking where Mike's car, a BMW, was parked.

"Ok, what happened?" Alex asked Julie while he drove to their house.

Julie told him the story while Charlie leaned in the back seat silently with his eyes closed. He stayed like that the whole trip, only opening his eyes when Julie shook his shoulder lightly when they arrived.

"What the hell?" Katie shouted as soon as the 3 entered at the house and she saw the blood on Charlie's clothes.

"Julie! Charlie! What happened?" Mary asked rushing to them along her mom after they heard Katie's shout and saw the blood too.

"Axel." Julie and her brother answered at the same time while Charlie sat on a sofa. Then Julie retold them the events of the mall.

"You kicked him at the balls?" Katie asked in shock when her sister finished.

"It's the weakest place of a man. That was one of Fulton's first lessons." Charlie said before he got up and said he needed to change his clothes.

"I'll come with you. If you go on your own, you'll get lost before finding your room." Julie said before she went with him.

"I think it will be best if my mom doesn't hear about this, ok?" Charlie commented to Julie.

"I agree 100 percent with you on that one." The goalie said with a nod before they arrived to his room and Charlie took off his t-shirt and got a new one.

"Am I wrong when I feel that this isn't the last time we deal with this Axel guy?" He asked putting in a new t-shirt after washing his face and sitting on the bed.

"He's not someone who takes a now as answer and we'll deal with him before the 3 weeks are over. You can be sure of that." Julie said with a serious tone of voice.

"I think we should call Fulton and Portman. I also have the feeling that we'll need them sooner or later." Charlie said seriously too.

"I don't want to call them yet but I thought about it too while we came here." She said sitting next to him.

"Come here." Charlie said attracting her to his side and hugging her.

"Thanks for standing for me at the mall." Julie said when they broke the embrace.

"Remember this always: you mess with a duck, and you mess with all of us. If this guy gives problems again, he'll deal with you, me and the bash brothers and everyone else we can call and come." Charlie said to her very seriously taking her face in his hand and making her to see him to the eyes.

Both of them stayed like that watching the other in silence for a few minutes before Andrea entered at the room and they broke the eye contact and turned to her, both of them blushing although they couldn't see it.

"I hope I'm not interrupting anything." Julie's mom said noticing the blush of both kids but not saying a word about it.

"You didn't interrupt anything." Both of them said at the same time.

"The food is ready. Come downstairs to eat." Andrea said before she left.

"We should go now." Julie said before both of them went down.

Charlie nodded and left after her, thinking in the moment of silence they had just shared. And although he didn't realize it then, he was having a crush on her. Unknown to him, Julie felt exactly the same towards her captain but didn't realize it either.


	4. Chapter 04 Duck’s Meeting

Chapter 04 Duck's Meeting

Chapter 04 Duck's Meeting

The next day to the fight between Charlie and Axel, a very bored and tired Tommy Duncan was at the lobby of the hotel where he and his family stayed for the tournament when discreetly, 2 guys came in. One of them, the older, went to the man who attended and started to talk with him while the other sat in front of him.

"Hi." Tommy said not looking up from the hockey magazine he was reading.

"You like hockey too, eh?" The other guy asked taking a magazine too.

"I love it." Tommy said before he introduced himself extending his hand: "Tommy Duncan."

"I heard about you and your sister Tammy." The other boy said shaking his hand before he added: "Ken Wu."

"A brother Duck!" Tommy exclaimed laughing while Ken's companion went to them.

"Will you stay here? I'll hit the shower and go to sleep." He said to the duck.

"Give me a second." Ken told him before he turned to Tommy and told him: "I'll see you around I guess."

"You can bet it." Tommy said before Ken and his companion went to the lifts.

"Mr. Wu, phone for you." The manager told Ken before he arrived there, who nodded and went to answer it.

"This is Ken Wu speaking."

"Kenny! How was the trip?" Charlie asked with a smile.

"Charlie?" The Asian guy asked shocked.

"You are talking to the one and only Charlie Conway!" He laughed before he added: "I'm at Julie's and we wanted to see how you had arrived."

"I just checked in the hotel. But the trip was fine. What are you doing at Maine? I thought you were going to stay at your house this summer." Ken said confused.

"My mom and step-dad made a trip to NY and came to stay at his sister. But things didn't work as planned and finished here." Charlie summed the situation before he added: "Hold on, Jules wants to talk too."

"Ken! How are you doing?" Julie said as soon as she took the phone.

"Hi, Julie. I'm fine and ready for this." Ken said before he asked: "How is it living with the great captain?"

"We haven't killed each other so far. You can say we are fine at the moment." The goalie laughed and Ken could hear Charlie complaining about her comments.

"Listen," Julie said after shutting Charlie, "We have to meet to have some lunch or dinner together when the tournament ends. There are another 2 ducks here too so we can meet and talk."

"I just met Tommy Duncan." Ken said before he yawned and added: "I need to sleep. Call me and we'll arrange something. I have no problems with that. It'll be fine to meet and talk."

"We'll do it. See you, Ken." Julie bid her goodbye before she hung the phone and Ken went to the lift.

As soon as he got out of the lift he saw a girl that looked a lot like Tommy and guessed she was Tammy. She was at the door of her room waiting for someone and didn't look to happy with the delay.

"You are Tammy Duncan, right?" Ken asked going to her,

"And you must be Ken Wu." Tammy nodded to him before she added: "My brother just told me he saw you downstairs."

"It's nice to meet you. I heard good things from some of the ducks about you and your abilities." Ken said with a smile that made her blush before her mother left the room and saw him.

"I'll see you around." The boy said with a nod to her and went to his room.

"Who was that?" Mrs. Duncan asked her daughter while they went to the lifts.

"Ken Wu." She said simply and wide smile due to his words.

- - - - -

For the next couple of days, Ken and the Duncan Brothers were busy training and practicing for the tournament. Ken would go alone while the siblings would participate together,

Charlie and Julie had got tickets to see them and also paid them a visit at the hotel where they decided when and where they would eat together. They decided for a little restaurant that was ran by one of Alex's friends and would give them a private table to chat without being disturbed by other clients.

"What happened at your nose?" Ken asked Charlie noticing it was a bit swollen.

"I had a little accident." Charlie lied. Ken looked at him oddly, not believing his history completely but said nothing.

"So, what will it be: lunch or dinner?" Julie asked the other ducks changing the subject. They had decided to do it the day after the tournament.

"I prefer dinner. We'll leave 2 days after the end of the tournament and me and Tommy will be packing that morning." Tammy said, getting a nod from her brother.

"I agree with that. But that's because I love to sleep all morning after I finish a competition and if I wake before noon, I'm completely idiot, believe it or not." Ken laughed.

"It's the same that happens to me!" Tommy said laughing.

"You are an idiot 24/7, Tommy!" His sister said laughing, along the others.

"You'll miss it when you get a new partner, my sister." Tommy said with a smile.

"If the things continue like this, Tommy, Mom will start to pay you before finding me a new partner." She smirked to him.

"She better starts to get cash. I don't take checks or credit cards." Tommy said with a smile, before their mom called them to go to practice and they said goodbye to the others.

"What were they talking about?" Ken asked Charlie confused.

"Tommy is decided to play hockey this year and stop with artistic skating. So to make him continue being with Tammy, they'll have to pay him or find another skater for her." He summed the situation with a smile.

"How did your family take the news of you dedicating to the hockey?" Julie asked curiously.

"My dad has threatened to disown me. My grandfather doesn't talk to me any longer. My grandmother thinks that this is a mistake and that I'm wasting my time. My former trainer quit and said I was a failure. And my brother is the only one who supports and came with me." Ken answered before he added: "The only one who hasn't said a word about this is my mom and her silence is something I'm worrying about."

"Sorry to hear that." Charlie said with a sad smile.

"I knew that this was going to happen when I made my mind, Charlie. Besides, I'm not sorry for leaving the skating. I needed a break." Ken said dismissing his apologizes. At that moment, his brother made him a signal and he stood to leave after saying goodbye and promising them to talk after the competition.

- - - - -

The competition started and would last 2 days. Charlie and Julie went to support their friends when they skated. Both of them had their Ducks Jersey and a little signal that read 'Ducks Forever'. Ken went with them when the siblings acted the first day and when he did it, both Tammy and Tommy sat with them to support him.

The last day, the Duncan brothers competed first and won the gold medal in a brilliant actuation that earned them a very high scored.

"I was told she was good, but not that good. If it wasn't because I'm dropping the artistic skating I would consider having her as a partner." Ken said to Julie and Charlie before he went to get ready for his show that would be on the last part of the tournament.

The other 2 ducks stayed there watching the performances while they waited for Tammy and Tommy. Both of them had promised to sit with them to watch Ken.

"Excuse me, are you ducks?" A woman asked the kids who sat near them.

"Yes, Madame." Charlie said with a nod turning to see her and finding her familiar but couldn't place the reason.

"You must be Julie, right? She asked the Goalie who nodded.

"You are Ken's mom." Charlie said suddenly placing her. He had seen a picture of her on Ken's bed-table on the good will games.

"I am." The woman nodded with a smile before she said: "I'm afraid that placing you is not easy. I figured her out because Ken told me that there only 2 girls on the team and told me one was blond." Here she pointed to Julie who laughed softly along Charlie and the woman.

"I'm Charlie, the team's Captain." The boy introduced himself, before he added: "It's nice to meet you, Mrs. Wu. Ken told us wonderful things about you."

"I can say the same about you 2. Ken spoke a lot about you and the rest of the team." The woman smiled to them before a man sat near them and she introduced each other: "Honey, these are 2 of Ken's friends, Julie and Charlie. Kids, this is my husband, Alexander."

"I'm pleased to meet you." The man said with a solemn nod before the Duncan siblings arrived to their seats.

"How is Ken? Did you have a chance to see him?" Charlie asked to them before he introduced them to Ken's parents: "Mr. and Mrs. Wu, these are Tammy and Tommy Duncan. Guys, these are Ken's parents."

"Let me congratulate you for such a great performance on the ice. You were amazing." Mrs. Wu said seriously to the kids who beamed and thanked her while their duck friends told them the same.

"He's nervous but seems ok, as usual when he comes to one of this." Ken's brother said appearing suddenly and sitting with them after hugging his parents.

"He said he wanted to do this alone. He didn't want anyone near him this time, his last." He said to his parents when they asked why he was there and not near Ken.

In that moment Ken went to the ice and started his performance. Although both Julie and Charlie didn't know a lot about artistic skating and all they had learnt was in those 2 days, they could say one thing for sure: it was the best ever done in the whole competition. It wasn't only good, it was perfect. Both Duncan brothers saw it amazed with what he was doing.

"If the judges don't give him 10, they have to be killed. That was the best performance I've seen in my whole life!" A man that was near them said to the man that was next to him who nodded.

"Mr. Piller! So long!" Mrs. Wu turned to see the man and recognized him.

"Anna! Alexander! It's nice to see you!" The man smiled and shook hands with him and kissed her.

"Are you Peter Piller, The reporter of the skating competitions?" Tammy asked shocked.

"I try to not be spotted but sometimes I can't avoid it." He nodded with a smile before he added: "Great show you gave there."

Then all of them turned to see the judges' opinion and as the reporter had predicted, Ken was granted with a ten from all of them who made him the winner.

"These tournaments will be very boring without someone like him to surprise us." Piller said with a shake of his head before he added: "I hope he can enjoy the hockey just the half he enjoyed this."

"You can bet he will." Ken's brother said before he and his parents said goodbye to him and went to congratulate Ken.

"Tell Ken we'll meet here. The lockers will be madness and we decided to congratulate him in private." Julie said to Mrs. Wu handing her a note with the restaurant's address before she left.

"I will tell him." She said with a nod to the ducks before she added: "It was a pleasure to meet all of you."

- - - - -

The next night, at 8.30 p.m., Charlie and Julie arrived to the restaurant a few minutes earlier to the time they had decided with the others. Julie went to see her brother's friend while Charlie waited to see if the other 3 arrived.

At the moment Julie went to tell him that their table was ready, Ken arrived wearing his duck's jersey. He had predicted, and wasn't wrong, that his friends would wear it too. Just when they were saying hi to each other, a car stopped near them and both Duncan siblings got out of it. They were wearing duck's jerseys too, but they had the newest version, the one of the games.

"We bought them after you won. We were ducks once so we really had to have them as the bears you sent us." Tammy explained to them while they entered at the place and they were taken to a quiet spot at the back.

"Speaking about teddies, we found some of these before I came and brought it for you." Charlie said handing Ken one of the oldest versions of the stuffed animals.

"Thanks, guys. Although this one will run the same fate than the other one: my goddaughter's hands." Ken said before he added: "I'll have a niece soon and my sister has asked me to be the godfather."

"Congratulations, Ken!" Julie exclaimed hugging him. The others congratulated him too and clapped his back.

In that moment, a waitress came and handed them the card and waited for their orders. Charlie asked meal while Julie and Tammy decided to share some chicken; Tommy chose some sea food and Ken asked pasta. They also asked some fries while they waited their orders along coke. The girl nodded and left them alone once more.

"Congratulations for the medal, Ken. We decided to let you have some time with your parents and see you today." Charlie said in name of the others.

"Mom told me about that. Besides the locker was insane with lot of people and reporters and wouldn't have enjoyed your company properly. I prefer it like this: just us and no one else." Ken said with a smile while the waitress brought the drinks and they decided to make a toast.

"I toast for the medals and our shows." Tammy said raising her vase.

"I'll toast for seeing you again and meeting you 2." Proposed Tammy talking to Charlie first and then to Ken and Julie.

"I toast for being here with you tonight." Julie said raising hers.

"I toast for the hockey that made us meet." Ken said.

"I toast for the ducks." Charlie said at the end and they toasted together.

"Mind if I join you, guys?" Someone asked going to them. All of them turned to see Adam Banks who was with his parents.

"Hey, Cake Eater! So long!" Tommy greeted him laughing while they added another chair to the big table.

"Hi, Tommy. Hi, Tammy." The blond said with a smile before he said hi to the other too and he asked some meal to the waitress.

"What are you doing at Maine? I thought you were at Hawaii." Charlie asked confused.

"It was Tahiti. And we returned a couple of days earlier. My dad had an urgent business to handle here and I thought about coming to say hi to Julie. What I didn't expect was to find the rest of you." Adam explained before he added to the Duncan siblings and Ken: "I saw your shows the other night on the TV. My congratulations to you."

"Thanks." The 3 said while their food was brought and they started to eat.

"What are you doing here, Charlie?" Adam asked his friend.

"It's a long story." Charlie said before he retold them the story.

"How's your mom?" The blond asked with a worried look. He wasn't sure if the rest of his friends knew what had happened to her and wasn't going to tell it to them.

"She's fine." Charlie said with a nod of thanks for not mentioning the miscarriage openly.

"What will everyone do from now on?" Julie asked while she tried to change the subject and before the others made any question.

"We are returning home to get ready for the competition in NY that will be in a couple of weeks." Tammy said while her brother nodded.

"I'm taking holydays with my father. We'll try to fix the problems between us. My mom will stay to help my sister with her pregnancy." Ken informed.

"I'll go back home to get ready for the school year." Adam said.

"It'll be the same for me." Charlie told his friends.

"I'll try to get myself a new team and get ready to be aunt very soon." Julie said before she told the others what Axel had done when they looked her oddly.

"Bastard." Ken muttered while the others nodded.

"I can't change the past now. But, yes, I think the same than you." The goalie said before she changed the subject again: "How did everyone get in the hockey or skating?"

"My dad gave me the first skates and sticks when I was 6." Adam said starting to tell their stories, "Like my big brother my destiny was to become a Hawk and was one till Coach Bombay made me enter in the Ducks."

"My mom taught us to skate when we I was 4 and she decided that I had to skate all my life. She also decided that for Tommy, but that won't happen with him." Tammy sad with a sigh before she continued: "We joined the team when Coach saw us once in the rink practicing."

"My grandfather was a big skater but he had an injury and couldn't reach far with it. He saw in me his dreams continued. I changed to the Hockey after a bad time I went through and Tibbles came to me with his proposal. I took it as a break before I returned to the skating again. The problem was that I love Hockey too much now to drop it." Ken said laughing.

"I joined Guy who learnt to skate due Connie and we followed Greg and Les when they joined the hockey team. We were the biggest disaster on the ice. We barely could skate and much less score. I still think that we won that league of miracle." Charlie said with a laugh.

"I agree with that, Spazzway!" The Duncan siblings and Adam nodded laughing too.

"Spazzway?" Ken and Julie asked confused.

"It's an old nick that gave me Peter a couple of years ago." Charlie explained to them.

"What happened with him?" Tammy asked. She knew that Karp had died and that Terry dropped hockey and played Chess now, but she didn't know anything about him.

"We lost touch before the Games and haven't heard from him since then." He said to the others,

"Hey, Julie, do you know what will be your sister's baby?" Ken asked to his friend.

"It's not a baby, Ken, they'll be babies." Julie said before she added: "She's expecting twins in 3 months more or less. And it's a boy and a girl."

"Congratulations!" The others said with a smile.

"A toast for the babies that will be coming soon to the world!" Charlie proposed raising his vase and being joined by the others.

For the next 2 hours the 5 ducks chatted about everything: families, future, hockey, school, the Games and the hockey competitions while they ate.

When it was a bit after midnight and Adam's parents had left some time ago, they decided to call an end to the dinner. The Duncan siblings were taking a plane at noon and had to sleep a while. Ken would stay for one more day too so he decided to meet Charlie, Julie and Adam the next day. The blond boy and his parents were staying at the city for 4 days.

"Ok, we go together at the bill?" Charlie asked taking his wallet when they had asked the bill. The others nodded and took theirs.

"Julie." A guy said going to them and hugging the goalie.

"Hi, Jeff." Julie said returning the hug before he introduced him to her friends: "Guys, this is the owner of the restaurant, Jeff. Jeff, these are some of the ducks."

"It's nice to meet you. She talked a lot about you." Jeff said with a smile shaking their hands before he said: "If you take a picture with me, I forget the bill."

"Where is there a camera?" Charlie asked laughing along the others before he said: "You have a deal."

A waitress came and brought him a jersey of the ducks and they posed for the picture together. Adam was the only one who didn't wear one, but as he had explained to Jeff, he wasn't aware of the dinner.

"If I had been told that the jersey was the outfit for the dinner I would have taken it." He said before they said goodbye and they went to the door.

"Ken, are you coming with us to the hotel?" Tommy asked him when the car driven by his father arrived to pick them up.

"Sure, guys." Ken nodded before he asked Adam where he was staying.

"I'm at the same hotel where you are. I saw your parents when we checked in today." The blond said before he said to Tommy's Father: "Can I join you at the trip?"

"If we can enter, come in." He said while he motioned the others to enter at the car.

"We'll see you tomorrow. Come to my house and we'll do something." Julie said to Ken and Adam before the car left and she and Charlie started to walk back to her house.


	5. Chapter 05 Revenge

Chapter 05 Revenge

Chapter 05 Revenge

It was 2.30 a.m. when Alex got a call on the phone. Although he lived with his parents with Mike, sometimes they spent the night at his house and that was the case.

"Speak?" Alex said picking the phone after the fifth ring.

"Alex, it's me, Julie." The goalie said thankful that her brother had heard the phone. He could sleep through a bomb sometimes.

"What happened?" Alex asked completely awake seeing the hour.

"Come to the hospital. Charlie and I were beaten up last night. We are at the E.R." Julie said seriously.

"I'm on my way." The boy said getting up from bed and looking for his clothes and waking his boyfriend at the process.

"What's wrong?" Mike asked half asleep.

"Julie and Charlie are at the E.R." He said before he left the house and drove to the hospital.

As soon as he arrived he asked for them to a nurse who pointed him to a room. He arrived there to find Charlie on a bed with some bandages around his left hand and his sister with a sling on his right arm.

"What happened?" Alex asked seriously to the kids.

"Axel waited for us when we left the restaurant and beat us." Julie said with a furious look.

"How are you 2?" Alex asked angrily.

"I have a dislocated shoulder and Charlie's hand is broken. We also have some bruises but nothing else." Julie explained before he added: "Thanks for coming."

"Are you a relative?" A doctor asked entering at that moment.

"She's my sister." Alex explained before he asked: "How are they?"

"Their injuries should heal soon. She must keep the sling for a couple of weeks and he must have that bandage for a month. I'll suggest paying a visit to their doctors in a couple of weeks." He explained handing them the X-rays and saying goodbye to the kids and Alex.

"As soon as we arrive to your house, we call Chicago." Charlie said to Julie as soon as they were out and they went to Alex's car.

"Why will you call Chicago?" Alex asked confused while his sister nodded.

"The Bash Brothers are there." Julie said with a serious tone of voice.

"If someone messes with one of us, he'll get payback from the rest of us." Charlie added while they arrived to the house and they entered.

"Oh my God!" Andrea shouted when she saw the 2 kids and rushed to them.

"Take it easy, mom. I have a couple of bruised ribs." Julie warned her mom before she hugged her.

"She called me from the hospital. I went to pick them up." Alex explained to Andrea before his father and sisters went to the kitchen after hearing her shout and seeing Julie and Charlie.

"Here are the X-rays of both." Alex told his father while Andrea and her other daughters checked the kids. Then he continued, to the others too: "Julie's shoulder is dislocated and his hand is broken."

"It was Axel, wasn't it?" Katie asked her sister.

"Yes and now it's time to take care of him in the Duck's way." Charlie said before he picked the phone and dialed a number.

"Who is he calling?" Everyone asked Julie confused.

"To the Bash Brothers." She answered while all of them heard the chat.

"Portman, It's Charlie." The kid said as soon as the phone was answered.

"Charlie? What the hell do you want at 3 a.m.?" The enforcer asked seeing the hour.

"Wake your brother and get here now. We need your strength at Maine." Charlie said before he explained him what had happened that night to him and Julie.

"Son of a…!" Dean cursed after Charlie had finished.

"When can you land at Maine?" The captain asked.

"We'll be there for dinner probably. I need to get someone to take us there." Portman said before adding: "Find us a place where to stay for sometime."

"Would you mind adding 2 guests for your wedding?" Charlie asked Katie.

"What wedding?" Dean asked while Katie nodded.

"Julie's sister is getting married in 2 weeks. You and Fulton are invited to it now." Charlie said with a smile.

"We'll see you in a couple of hours." Dean said before he hung the phone.

"You'll have to call your mom." Andrea said seriously.

"That's exactly what I'll do right now." Charlie said before he dialed the hotel's phone number and asked for his mom's room.

"Speak?" Casey Conway asked answering the phone a moment later.

"Mom, it's me." Charlie said.

"Charlie, what happened?" Case asked worriedly seeing the hour.

"I was assaulted a couple of hours ago. Some guys beat me and Julie." Charlie said to his mom while Julie's family left and both ducks stayed alone.

"How are you? Are you injured?" Casey asked worried.

"I have a couple of bruises, cuts and they broke my left hand. The doctors said it should be fine in a couple of weeks." The captain explained.

"Casey? What's wrong?" Scott asked next to her.

"Give me a second, Scott." Casey asked her husband before she turned to her son and asked: "Are you ok?"

"Yes, we are fine, don't worry. I just wanted to warn you." Charlie explained before he asked: "How is everything going there?"

"We are fine." His mom said with a smile and added: "Call me everyday to tell me how you are. And go to the doctor again before you go back home, ok?"

"I will, don't worry. We'll talk tomorrow." Charlie said before he hung the phone and turned to his friend.

"Let's go to bed." Julie said before they walked to their rooms.

- - - - -

A couple of hours later, Adam and Ken arrived to Julie's house and rang the bell. They had arrived together and had their hockey stuff just in case the others wanted to play a match.

"What the hell…?" Adam asked as soon as he saw Julie.

"We were assaulted and beaten last night when we were returning home from the restaurant." She explained to her friends while they entered.

"How are you? And Charlie?" Ken asked while they left their stuff in the living room.

"I have my shoulder dislocated and Charlie has his left hand broken. Besides that we have some bruises and nothing else." She explained while all of them went to have breakfast to the kitchen were her mom, Olivia, Mary and Charlie were eating.

"Mom, Olivia, Mary, these are Ken and Adam. Guys, these are my mom and 2 of my sisters." Julie introduced them while they said hi to each other.

"Today we'll have a duck's convention." Katie said laughing going down to breakfast and introducing herself to the 2 new kids.

"Is someone else coming?" Ken asked to Julie after they checked Charlie's hand.

"The Bash Brothers are coming from Chicago. They should arrive sometime this afternoon." Charlie said to his friends.

"If they are coming, that can mean only one thing, Charlie." Adam said seriously to his friend.

"We know who did it and we'll take revenge on them." Julie said with a nod to the blond kid.

"Was the guy that you mentioned yesterday? Axel?" Ken asked to Julie who nodded again.

"We can't play hockey, but perhaps we can skate for a while. What do you say?" Charlie suggested to his friends who nodded and went to get their rollers.

- - - - -

The 4 ducks skated around the town following Julie's leadership. They went to see her school, the rink and some other places.

"Cat!" Someone shouted calling their attention. They turned to see 2 guys who skated to them.

"Jeff! Steve!" Julie shouted skating to them, being followed by the others.

"What happened to you?" One of the guys asked seeing Julie's sling.

"I'll give you 2 chances to guess who did it, but you won't need the second, Jeff." She said seriously before she introduced the 2 of them: to the ducks: "Guys, these are Jeff and Steve, 2 of my old teammates and the only ones that I still consider my friends." Then she introduced the ducks: "These are Ken, Charlie and Adam."

"You are Ken Wu, The guy of the competition!" Jeff said shocked when he recognized him.

"Who?" Steve asked confused.

"The guy who got the perfect score the last night, remember?"

"Crap! We saw your show! It was amazing!" Steve said when he understood who his friend talked about.

"Thanks." Ken said with a shy smile.

"So, Axel decided to mess again with you." Jeff said with anger on his voice.

"We'll fix it tonight. I called a couple of friends to give us a hand to get our revenge." Julie explained to them before she asked: "Interested in joining us?"

"You can bet it." Both of them said at the same time.

"What do you say if we go back to your house, Julie? Dean and Fulton may arrive at any moment." Charlie suggested to his friend. He could see that Julie trusted them and that was enough for him to do it too. A look at Ken and Adam told him that they felt the same.

"When you say Dean and Fulton you mean 'Dean Portman' and Fulton Reed', the Bash Brothers?" Steve asked to Charlie who gave them a nod.

"You mess with one of us, and you mess with all." Adam explained while they arrived to Julie's house and entered.

"Your friends are here." Katie said to Julie as soon as all of them were inside and she said hi to Jeff and Steve. In that moment, the Bash Brothers came from the kitchen, both of them with their bandanas.

"You didn't say that we'd have a duck meeting." Fulton laughed greeting his friends while Dean did the same, both of them being careful with Julie and Charlie to not harm them.

"Guys, these are Dean and Fulton, the Bash Brothers." Julie introduced them to her other friends before she did the same in the other way,

"You missed the dinner of last night with the Duncan siblings." Ken said before they sat at the sofas at the living room.

"How are they?" Fulton asked to Charlie.

"Tommy is about to start to get paid to skate with his sister. I highly doubt that their mom will want to break the couple after their show in the tournament." Charlie laughed before he added: "She asked me to tell you hi."

Tammy and Charlie had talked alone a couple of days ago and she had asked how Fulton was. Obviously, she still had a crush on him. And he had one on her too, even if he didn't admit it.

"You still have the crush on her!" Adam said when he understood what Charlie meant.

"I like her, ok?" Fulton said blushing.

"Perhaps we can have another dinner." Ken said suddenly and then he explained: "I heard Tammy saying that they had to stay another couple of days, but don't know why."

"We'll see that later. Now, let's get to business, shall we?" Dean asked cracking his fingers eagerly.

"This is the idea." Julie said to her friends before she told them what she had planned all day.

- - - - -

The 6 ducks, plus Jeff and Steve and 2 of Katie's friends that worked as security in a disco and joined them making a favor to her, waited to Axel and his 2 friends who were at a restaurant.

"You 4 take care of King and Kong. Axel is ours, understood?" Dean said to the 4 guys that weren't ducks. They had got the message from the beginning: this was a matter of the team and they would solve it.

"Clear." Jeff said in name of the 4 while the others nodded.

As soon as the 3 guys that they waited left the restaurant, they followed them quietly and with some distance till they could get the chance. Julie had moved from them to a place where he would distract the trio so Jeff, Steve and Katie's friends would take care of the giant companions of Alex.

"I was looking for you." Julie said making them stop.

As she had predicted, Axel made a signal to King and Kong to let him take care of this on his own, so both of them stopped a few meters behind them. As soon as they did, the 4 guys took them away from there, leaving the path clear for the ducks that went to Julie and Axel who were talking.

"Last time we saw each other," the goalie was saying, "I and Charlie were at disadvantage. This time it won't happen."

"Really? You and what army will do something?" Axel sneered.

"We are her army." Dean said making Axel turn around to find himself face to face with the ducks.

"I told you, you mess with a duck, and you mess with the whole flack." Charlie said going to face Axel and standing face to face with him before he kicked him in the balls once again and punched him with his good hand.

That was the beginning of the beating: Charlie and Julie broke both of his hands; he did it with his left and the goalie with his right; Ken and Adam took care of his face and the Bash Brother of his ribs.

"Let's go before someone calls the police." Julie told her friends who nodded and went to find the other part of the group and left her alone for a moment.

"Listen to me very well: get near me again and this will be nothing compared to what will happen to you. Next time, it won't be just 6, the next time; it will be from the whole team." She said on his ear before she stood and followed the team.

"Let's go back to the hotel. Let's take 2 taxis: Dean, Fulton and Ken will go in one; Charlie, Adam and I will take the other." Julie suggested to the others, who nodded. Then she turned to the others and told them: "You didn't see us tonight. We didn't meet. We weren't here together."

"We worked at disco tonight so technically we were never here or with you." Katie's friends said with a nod before they left.

"We'll officially meet in some other occasion as this one doesn't count." Jeff said to the ducks who nodded and he and Steve walked away too and the ducks went to the hotel in 2 cabs.

- - - - -

At the lobby, Tommy was watching a movie while his sister read a magazine while his parents talked in the phone. Their grandma had felt sick that day and they had to change their plans. The chances of going to NY were few as her illness seemed to be pretty serious.

"Isn't that Fulton?" Tommy asked when the first taxi arrived to the hotel taking the Bash Brothers and Ken.

"What are you talking about?" Tammy asked looking form the magazine to see them.

"Fult!" She shouted running to hug him.

"Skater!" He said hugging her back.

"Tommy, this is Dean Portman, the other Bash Brother. Dean, this is Tommy Duncan." Ken introduced them to each other while the other 2 talked in private still hugged.

"It's nice to meet you." They said shaking their hands while the second taxi arrived and the other 3 ducks entered at the hotel.

"What the hell happened to you 2?" Tommy asked as soon as he saw Charlie and Julie.

"We were assaulted and beaten when we returned home last night." Charlie explained while Tammy and Fulton joined them.

"Are you ok?" Tammy asked them with worry.

"My shoulder is dislocated and his hand is broken but the doctors said that we should be fine in a couple of weeks." Julie told them while all of them sat in chairs or sofas.

"When are you leaving? Ken told us you'd stay for some more time." Adam asked the siblings.

"We are not sure. Our grandma got sick and mom and dad are deciding what to do. It's probable that mom will go to her house to be with her, but we are not sure about what we'll do." Tommy explained to the other ducks before his dad arrived and saw the whole team.

"What happened?" He asked as soon as he both injured ducks.

"It's a long story." Julie summed up the situation.

"What are we going to do, Dad?" Tammy asked.

"Your mom takes a plane in the morning. I got a call from the office and they asked me if I could handle something here for a couple of days. You can either stay here with me or go with your mom. The NY's competition is over." He said seriously.

"I'll stay." Tommy said.

"Me too." His sister said.

Their father nodded. He didn't have to be a genius to know that their main reason to stay was that a lot of the ducks were there. Besides, with both of his kids with them, he wouldn't need to worry about where they were while he took care of his businesses.

"I'll tell your mom." He nodded and went to his room after saying goodbye to the other kids.

"We better go back to my house. I don't know about you guys, but I want to sleep." Julie said to Charlie, Dean and Fulton, who nodded and stood from their seats.

"Come to my house tomorrow and we'll do something." Julie told the other ducks, who nodded before they parted their ways: she and the other 3 went to take a taxi back to her house while the others went to their rooms to rest too.

"Adam, can I ask you something?" Tammy stopped the blond before they reached to their floor.

"He still has the crush on you, Tammy, even if he doesn't admit it to anyone." Adam smiled to her before he left the lift and went to his room and the others continued their trip to their rooms.

"You also have your crush." Tommy stated before both of them went to their beds.

"I do." She whispered and fell asleep.


	6. Chapter 06 Fun at the Rink

Chapter 06 Fun at the Rink

Chapter 06 Fun at the Rink

The morning after the beating, both Duncan siblings, who weren't aware about that, were having breakfast with Ken's brother. His parents had left the hotel early and their dad had taken their mom to the airport.

"Bingo, this is just what we need." The guy, Alex Jr., said when the hotel's door was opened and a couple of Asian people entered.

"What's the matter?" Tammy asked turning to see the couple who were talking to the man attending the desk in that moment.

"Go to Ken's room and tell him to stay there till I call him." He said to Tommy seriously before the woman saw him and went to him.

"Alexander." The woman said with a smile hugging him, while Tommy ran to the lifts to what he was asked to.

"Grandmother, this is quite a surprise. We didn't expect you and grandfather." Alex said to her before shaking hands with his grandfather.

"Oh it was something sudden, nothing planned." The man answered before he asked: "Mind if we join you and your friend?"

"Please." Alex gestured the chairs and they took seat and introduced them to Tammy: "Tammy, these are my grandparents." Then he made the reverse introduction: "This Tammy Duncan."

"I'm pleased to meet you." Tammy said with a smile that was returned by the woman but the man said nothing.

"Where are your parents?" The man asked to his grandson.

"They went shopping." Alex said before Tommy and Ken arrived. The newest duck ignored his grandparents, said hi to his brother and Tammy and sat at the table to eat breakfast.

"Won't you say anything?" The man asked angrily to Ken.

"Both of us have made our position quite clear the last time we saw each other. I have nothing else to add." He shot back before he asked to the Duncan and his brother: "Did Adam come down or he's still on his room?"

"Sorry, I overslept." Adam said arriving at that moment and joining them after saying hi to his friends.

"I'll get my stuff from my room and then we can go to Julie's." Ken told his friends before he went to the lift, ignoring his grandparents as he had done all breakfast.

Then the man shouted something to him in a language that none of the ducks understood. Ken turned around and shouted something in the same language. Both of them started to talk in shouts while Ken's brother and his grandmother shook their heads.

"You shouldn't have come. You know his temper. If you really expected him to be quiet, then you've gone insane." Alex told his grandmother before he went to his brother and took him away from the lobby before the things got much worse.

"I'll go to get my stuff." Adam said when the old man went back to the table.

"Me too!" Both Duncan kids said at the same time before they followed him.

When the 3 arrived at the floor where Ken's room was, they saw him having an argument with his brother, this one quieter and calmed that the one that he had downstairs.

"You can't ask me to show respect, Alex! Not after what he said!" Ken nearly shouted.

"Calm down, Ken. I'm on your side, remember?" His brother asked trying to calm him.

"I'll be at Julie's. I'll try to have fun my last day here." Ken informed his brother before muttering: "That's unless I can find a place where to stay somewhere far from them."

"Try it. If you get it, I'll convince Mom and Dad. I'm sure she doesn't want you to start a war with her parents." Alex promised.

"I'll be back in a couple of hours. We leave for the airport at 8 p.m., right?" Ken asked getting his bag over his shoulder. His brother nodded and he went to his friends who waited at the lift's door with their stuff.

"Let me guess: you'll ask Julie's sister if you can go to the wedding along the bash Brothers and Charlie?" Adam asked when the 4 were going to their friend's house.

"I'll do anything to stay away from my family right now. If that means that I have to wear a suit and go to a wedding where the only people I know are ducks, be damn sure that I will!" Ken said with a serious tone of voice before all of them, arrived to their destination.

"I thought your house was big, Cake Eater, but hers is biggest!" Tommy said when they saw the house.

"I thought the same when I saw it yesterday." Adam laughed while they rang the bell and Katie opened the door.

"You 2 must be Tommy and Tammy." She said letting them in and saying hi to Ken and Adam too before they went to the kitchen where the other ducks were still having breakfast.

"Why the face, Ken?" Dean asked as soon as they said hi to each other and all of them were sat around a big table.

"My grandparents came to Maine this morning." Ken explained before he asked Katie and Julie very seriously: "What do I need to do to go to the wedding? Tell me and I do it!"

"Are you serious?" Andrea asked shocked with the question when she came in the kitchen and heard the question.

"Mrs. Gaffney, if I don't keep some distance from my grandparents right now and for a while, a war will start between us." Ken said before he asked once more: "What do I need to do?"

"Weren't you leaving tonight?" Julie asked while her sister considered the idea.

"I will unless I find a good reason to not go with them and the weeding sounds perfect to me as a good excuse." Ken explained before he asked if he could stay there too. If not, he'd remain at the hotel.

"Is any of you interested on staying for the wedding too? Just to know it in case we need to add chairs and prepare more rooms on this house for more guests." Andrea asked the Duncan and Adam.

"There is not any more ducks coming, right?" Katie asked to the team.

"As far as we know…" Fulton started to say, but Charlie stopped him.

"There might be one little chance of another 2 coming. Very little chance," The captain said.

"Who?" Everyone asked confused.

"Connie and Guy. She has a relative living here. An aunt of her mother I think." Charlie said before he added: "The last time I checked Connie didn't like her a lot."

In that moment the bell rang and Andrea went to see who it was while the others stayed there. One moment later, she entered with the 2 ducks that Charlie had mentioned. This caused everyone to burst out in laughter.

"What did we miss?" Connie asked Andrea as confused as her best friend.

"Don't ask." She muttered with a shake of her head while the kids calmed down.

"What happened that all of you are here? And what the hell happened to you 2?" Guy asked to the team and then to Charlie and Julie before they hugged them.

"It's complicated." Charlie said before he explained them the reason of the presence of each duck on the city.

"Before you came in, my sister asked if there might be more ducks coming and Charlie said that there was a little chance of you coming. That's why we laughed when you entered." Julie said before her mom came in with a cordless phone and gave it to Charlie.

"Your mom."

"Hey, mom." Charlie said taking the phone and going to the living room to talk.

"How long will everyone stay?" Guy asked to his friends.

"I and Charlie will stay till after the wedding. We go back together," Fulton said.

"I'll stay the same time." Portman informed.

"I was supposed to leave today but it seems I'll stay the same time than them." Ken explained pointing to the Bash Brothers.

"We are not sure. I guess that till Dad finishes his business here." Tammy said in name of her brother and herself.

"Not sure. I have to see how long my dad has to stay here." Adam said before Charlie returned to the table and gave the phone back to Andrea.

"How's the little baby going, Charlie?" Connie asked.

"There is no baby anymore, Connie. Mom had a miscarriage a couple of weeks ago." Charlie said before he stood and left the room not wanting to face them in that moment. Fulton stood and followed him a moment later, after sending a look to Adam telling him to take care of the situation while he did it with Charlie.

"You knew it?" Everyone asked Adam having seen the look.

"With Fulton, we are the only ones who do it. Charlie didn't want to tell everyone yet. That's why we kept out mouth shut." Adam explained.

"Damn it, Adam! We should have been told!" Connie shouted to the blond.

"Do you think that Charlie told us? We knew it because we were at his house the night she lost the baby." Adam said before he added: "It's was his decision to tell it or not, Connie. We had to respect him."

"We could have helped him." Guy said still angry. Charlie had been his best friend since kinder and both of them loved each other as brother.

"Please, Guy. Charlie is the most closed person in the team. If he decides to shut himself, nothing you say or do, will make him open." The blond said before he stood and went to find his friends.

"Did he tell you?" Ken asked Julie.

"Yes, I asked the same question and he asked me to keep my mouth shut too after he told me." Julie said before she went to find the others who were outside sat in silence at the grass around the entrance of the house.

"I need to skate, is anyone coming?" Charlie asked them before they could say a word.

"Where: rink or streets?" Fulton asked while Julie went to ask the others.

"I don't care. I just need to skate seeing that with my broken hand, I won't be able to play hockey for a month." Charlie said before he went to get his stuff and Futon went to his room to get his and Portman's. Adam, like Ken and both Duncan, had their stuff at the kitchen and went for it.

A few moments later, the 10 ducks were ready to go the rink where Julie used to play and practice. They had their rollers tied and started to go there. Fulton had helped Charlie with them while Connie helped Julie.

"I won't talk about it!" Charlie shouted to Guy when he asked why he hadn't told anyone about the miscarriage for the tenth time in 5 minutes.

"Leave him alone." Fulton suggested to Guy seriously before he could talk again while the captain skated a bit away from them.

"I still understand why he didn't tell us." Guy complained to Fulton.

"It's because he wanted to be on his own on this one. He didn't want to share his grief. And he has more right to do it than you to ask him explanations, Guy." Fulton said before they went on skating.

When they arrived to the rink, Julie went to ask the ice for a couple of hours. The owner was a friend of her parents and was surprised to see almost the whole USA Hockey Team plus 2 great skaters as were Tammy and Tommy.

"Go ahead and use it. It's free all day." The guy said Julie handing her 2 set of keys from the lockers so they would change.

About 20 minutes later, all the kids were on the ice and ready to have fun for a while. Once more, Fulton and Connie had helped Charlie and Julie with their skates before all of them went out of the lockers.

"Ok, guys, let's have fun again like we did on the games." Julie said before she took a beach ball that they had brought and launched it.

- - - - -

About 2 hours later, the team was still on the ice. Some kids had gone and saw them and sat at the benches to see them. A little girl of 4 went to the ice suddenly while Portman skated near her but without looking to that side.

"Dean, watch out!" Everyone shouted when they saw the girl and tried to stop their friend before the collision.

Dean turned around and saw the girl and stopped himself throwing himself to the ice to avoid her. He was to near too try to stop and that was the only way to not collide.

Everyone ran to them while then a teen ran to the girl who giggled seeing Dean's actions. Fulton helped him up while the other girl checked the little.

"I'm ok." Portman said when he was up.

"Adriana!." Julie said seeing the teen.

"Jules!" The teen said hugging the goalie.

"Hey, when did you get back?" Julie asked before he introduced her to her friends: "Guys, this is Adriana, an old friend of mine and this little girl is her sister Jenny." Then she said to her friends: "These are some of the ducks." And then she introduced each of them.

"I just returned a couple of days ago. I came to see my family before I leave again." Adriana said before she explained to the ducks: "I study at England with a scholarship during almost all the year."

"It's nice to meet you." The ducks said.

"Want to skate with us? We are just having fun for a while." Julie asked her friend and she nodded and went to the lockers to get her skates and Jenny's.

While they waited for the 2 girls, a group of kids arrived to the rink and entered in the ice. Julie skated to them and shook hands with some of them while she kept a hard look with others. Charlie saw this and motioned Fulton to skate with him towards them.

"They have more brains and skills than you!" Julie shouted to the leader of the group. That made both ducks to skate faster and both stopped next to her.

"Is there any problem, Julie?" Charlie asked keeping an eye on the rest. Portman had seen the group and heard the shout too and decided to join his teammates stopping next to Fulton ready to act if there were problems.

"So you need bodyguards now? Can't the little cat defend herself?" The leader sneered. Some of the others laughed but some others didn't and kept silence.

"Oh I can. Surely you can ask Axel about how well I can take care of myself. Let me show you." Julie said before throwing him to the ice and putting her knee on his balls.

The guys that were with him jumped to help him but the 2 Bash Brothers and Charlie stopped them. Ken saw the fight and skated towards his teammates followed by the others immediately and joining the 3 ducks.

"Listen to me, you little scum," Julie said to the guy who tried to get her away from him: "If you want to have a fight, you better bring an army. Because if you don't, what happen to Axel will be nothing compared to what we'll do to you. Did you get it?"

"Yes!" The guy whined in pain due to the pain in his balls.

"Get out before I tell them to cause more pain and be sure that they'll be very glad to do it!" Julie pointed to the Bash Brothers who nodded with a smile and cracked their fingers.

"Do you get along with someone? Since I arrived, almost every guy I met hates you and you are ready to start a fight with them!" Charlie asked Julie while all of them, while the group ran from the rink. One of them made to Julie a signal as a phone and she nodded.

"I didn't leave the team in good terms. And I still have some things to settle with some of the players." Julie explained before Adriana and her sister arrived to the ice.

"I was right when I told my Dad that he should put you somewhere far from the main action." Adriana said to Julie shaking her head before she told the ducks: "On her first season in the team, she played as enforcer. She was expelled 6 times in 9 matches and broke teeth to 3 different guys. My dad, who trained the team, decided to make her try in another position."

"I'm hot tempered on the ice sometimes." Julie said with a blush while her teammates laughed.

"We noticed that on the Games, cat!" Charlie exclaimed when he remembered the first match against Iceland and her incident with the 2 players.

"Ken, your mom is here." Adam said suddenly when he noticed the woman near the ice.

"I'll be back in a minute." Ken said before he skated towards her.

"Let's continue." Charlie said before he started to skate again and the ball was thrown again between the ducks.

- - - - -

"Is everything ok?" Ken asked his mom stopping next to her.

"I just came to see what you were planning to do. At your friend's house, they told me that you and your teammates had come here." Anna said before she handed a bottle of water to her son.

"Thanks." Ken said drinking a bit of the bottle before he answered; "I'm not sure yet. Neither Julie nor her family told me if I could stay or not at her house for the wedding."

"Who's the one getting married, Ken?" His mom asked seriously.

"For what I've heard, it's one of her sisters. As far as I know, at least another 3 ducks are going to it: Charlie, Fulton and Portman." Ken answered before he added: "You can't ask me to go with you unless you want a war and you know it."

"Your father wants to amend things between you 2, Ken." Anna said seriously. She knew that if her son went with her and her parents would start a war. Her father's words towards his decision had been too hard to be forgiven or forgotten soon and she knew it.

"So do I, but I won't fix one thing to get another worse than it already is. If you really want me to go, you have to ask it, mom. But you can't ask me to be polite or respectful to your father unless he apologizes first because you can be sure that I won't do it. He's the one who started all of this." Ken said before he added: "I'll be back at the hotel in 2 hours. We'll talk then." Before she could tell another word, the ducks skated back to his friends.

"Of all the things you had to get from me, Ken, why did it have to be the stubbornness?" Anna asked to her son in a whisper before she walked out of the rink and back to the hotel.

- - - - -

A couple of hours later, Ken and the Duncan siblings returned to the hotel. The siblings had been called by their father and were told to go immediately. And seeing that Ken had to talk with his family, he went with them.

"My mom has asked to tell you that anyone who wants to stay for another 10 days at the city; you can use the wedding as excuse for it. I need to know who will go tomorrow." Julie said to her teammates before all of them departed their ways: Connie and Guy were going to her aunt's house while the rest went to Julie's.

As soon as the 3 arrived, Tammy and Tommy saw their luggage on the lobby and knew they were leaving Maine immediately and that the reason was probably their grandmother.

"Dad?" Tammy asked her father fearful of his answer.

"She suffered a heart stroke 2 hours ago. The doctors have said that she won't make the weekend. We are leaving now." The man told his children.

"We'll call the ducks to tell them." Tommy said and went to the phone to use it while his paid the bill.

"Accept my condolences, Mr. Duncan." Ken said with respect to the man who gave him a nod in thanks while he tried to comfort his daughter.

"Say goodbye for us to the others, please." Tammy asked to Ken before the 3 left to the airport. Ken nodded and went to his room to find his own family.

"What happened? Did you find a way to avoid the family trip?" Alex asked his brother as soon as he entered and put his stuff next to his bed.

"Yes, I have a wedding." Ken answered with a smile before he went to talk with his parents.

"What happened? Did you get the invitation?" Alexander asked his youngest son after he entered at their room.

"Yes, as a matter of fact all the ducks in the city got one." Ken laughed before he added seriously: "I know you wanted to use this trip to fix things between us and so did I. But as I told mom, I won't fix things with you just to worsen another situation."

"I know it, I know it." The man nodded before he said:"You are not the only one trying to avoid the trip. Alex has been calling all of his friends since breakfast to find a way to not come with us. Not that I blame him."

"What? Don't you want to go on holydays with your parents-in-law, dad?" Alex asked with a teasing tone entering at the room.

"I won't tell you no if the answer is yes. If I could, I would avoid it too." Alex said before he added: "Don't let you mom find out about that."

"Our mouths are sealed, dad." Both brothers swore with a solemn tone of voice.

"Hi, kids." Anna said entering a few minutes later, and asked: "What are you 2 going to do?"

"I'm staying on city for the wedding. Julie's mom invited all the ducks that are in the city and we have place on her house." Ken explained.

"How many of your teammates are here?" Alex asked curious.

"We are 8. Both Duncan had to leave because their grandmother was dying." Ken explained before he asked his brother: "What about you?"

"Florida. A friend of mine comes for me tomorrow." He said with a wide smile.

"Good luck to you 2 and be careful." Anna said to her children before she handed them an envelope with money enough to survive all the time before both of them returned to San Francisco.

"Good luck and enjoy the holydays." Both brothers said hugging their parents before they carried the luggage downstairs and they paid their rooms. Alex would use his one more night and then he would leave it too.

"Goodbye!" the 4 said before the 2 parents took a taxi and went to the airport.

"I'll take my bags and leave the hotel. See you back at home." Ken said to his brother before he went to his room and Alex went to walk around.

After gathering all his things, Ken took a taxi and went to Julie's house decided to enjoy his summer holydays with the ducks without thinking in his family for all the time he stayed.


End file.
